In some group electronic communication environments, such as a collaboration environment, group members, users, or participants engage in online and/or offline communications to exchange ideas and information, discuss work related issues, share documents and files, etc. A collaboration environment refers to a virtual (e.g., computerized) and/or physical environment in which users (also referred to as participants) collaborate with each other by exchanging information and data. For example, in a collaboration environment, participants communicate with each other via emails, text messages, chats, audio messages, video messages, etc. Participants can also exchange files and documents and review saved or archived communication records such as electronic messages (e.g., emails and text messages) and shared documents and/or files. A collaboration environment is implemented as a system that includes both software (e.g., software applications) and hardware components (e.g., computing devices, circuits, etc.). A collaboration environment includes one or a plurality of collaboration sessions.
A collaboration session in a collaboration environment can be implemented in a desktop environment as, e.g., a standalone desktop client application or a web-based application integrated within a web browser, such as Firefox, Internet Explorer, Safari, etc. The collaboration session in a desktop environment can be implemented on a desktop computer, a laptop, etc. A collaboration session can also be implemented in a mobile environment as a standalone mobile client application (or app) or as a web-based application integrated within a mobile web browser provided in a mobile environment, such as mobile versions of Firefox, Internet Explorer, Safari, etc. In both the desktop environment and the mobile environment, a collaboration session includes a user interface, such as a graphical user interface (GUI) that is a standalone software interface or integrated within a web browser. A collaboration session refers to an ongoing collaboration session or a collaboration session occurred in the past.
In a collaboration session (e.g., a chat session, a group meeting or conference session), members or participants of the collaboration session may receive a call, which may be a telephone call (including a voice message) that uses landline phone services, cellular wireless phone services, voice over IP (VoIP) phone services. The call may also include an audio call and/or a video call that uses technologies other than traditional phone services, such as desktop and/or mobile applications that enable audio and/or video communication. For example, while a collaboration session is underway, a participant or the collaboration session may receive a call from a caller who is not a participant of the collaboration session. As another example, while a participant is reviewing archived communication content of a collaboration session that is not currently underway (e.g., a past collaboration session), the participant may receive a call. The call into the collaboration session may be initiated from outside of the collaboration session. The term “outside” means the call is initiated by a caller using a device not included in devices and systems associated with the collaboration session. For example, the caller can be a person or a machine (e.g., a computer), which does not currently participate in the ongoing collaboration session or did not participate in the past collaboration session. The person or machine calls a collaboration session or a participant of the collaboration session using a device, such as telephone that is not a device associated with the collaboration session (hence the call is initiated from outside of the collaboration session). In some embodiments, the caller may be a participant of the collaboration environment, such as a participant of another collaboration session. For example, a first participant of a first collaboration session may call a second collaboration session or a second participant of a second collaboration session using a user device associated with the first collaboration session or using a telephone, which are not devices associated with the second collaboration session (hence the call to the second collaboration session is initiated from outside of the second collaboration session). In some embodiments, the caller is not a participant of the collaboration environment. For example, the caller is a user of a telephone system that is separated from the collaboration system. The caller initiates a call to a collaboration session using a telephone device included in the telephone system (hence the call is initiated from outside of the collaboration session).
When the collaboration session receives a call initiated from outside of the collaboration session, the existing collaboration systems do not enable users to manage the call in a convenient way. In some systems, the users have to leave the collaboration systems to answer the call.